Drawer box designs

In a brief search I’ve not been able to find out why I see a lot of drawer boxes built where the sides extend like wings beyond the drawer back. Why is this ? Added strength ? Does it really matter that much ? My guess is no since I see so many without this design feature. Seems like wasted wood & space.

Another drawer box feature I see mostly is where the drawer front (if false) and backs are fit inside the sides and not fixed where the drawer sides mate with the fronts & backs unless dovetails or rabbets are used. Why is this ? Does seem any stronger plus you are losing some minor drawers space.

Thanks for the input ! I’m designing a king size platform bed with two very large 29” & 32” wide drawers that will be ~26-28” deep & ~10-1/2” tall and I want to ensure I’m not doing something very wrong here.

5 replies so far

Original reason for extending the drawer sides was too allow space to cut dadoes for the drawer back. If you cut a dado close to the end of the board, it will be very weak and break off leaving a rabbet. Nowadays many people only cut a rabbet and rely on glue and screws or nails to hold the drawer back in place.

For the second question, are you talking about inset (flush) drawers like this?

When you open and close drawers the stress is on the front and back which want to pull away from the sides. So proper drawer construction has the sides “outside” so that whatever fastening system you use is parallel to the drawer front. I’m probably not explaining this well but you want your nails, screws, dowels, or dovetails oriented so they are perpendicular to the direction of travel. If the fasteners are parallel to the sides they can pull out over time. Hopefully this image explains it better.